Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Tay has been extremely excited to go to Kindergarten, of course, she wants to skip it and go to 1st grade too. So, we got her all ready, she picked out her dress, I did her hair and we walked to the Bus Stop.

While we were there I took a half a million pictures or so and she POSED for almost all of them. When I say pose...I mean pose, not just stood still and put a hand on a hip, no no no, she pulled faces and everything. Well, see for yourself:

And we waited, but the bus was late. Uh Oh. Sign of things to come?

Eventually, she got on the bus and headed away to her first day of Kindergarten. I didn't cry, not even misty-eyed but I DID feel old. I know she is well adjusted to new things and anxious to be her own person. She told me, the night before, that I should NOT go with her to school. That I should NOT even think about it.

So I didn't.

But I still had to go to school and prove to them that she was all inoculated and indoctrinated and stuff. So I waited a half hour and then headed over.

When I got there, Darla said: I have a story for you.

I thought: 30 minutes and there are already stories? Oh dear heaven.

She said that Taylor came into the office and wasn't sure where her class was. There was a nice lady that was walking with her and Darla assumed it was Mom (she had forgotten who belonged with whom and they both did have blond hair). So, Darla tells Tay (thinking that Mom is listening too but wants to let Tay feel like she is a big girl and can take care of herself) that she is in room 156 and it's down this hall and to the left.

Tay says OK and walks out.

When the woman did not follow, Darla asked: Aren't you going to go with her?

The woman responded: Not her Mom.

So Darla and the Woman watch Tay walk down the hall and make the turn and saw that she had gotten almost to her classroom when her teacher walked out and they all made sure she got to class.

Darla said she was impressed that Tay was just very matter-of-fact about it and was completely confident she could do it on her own.

I said: Yeah, it sucks. :)

So Tay had an uneventful day, as far as I know, and Danny and I walked down to pick her up. The bus showed up:

But Tay did NOT get off.

I swore and walked back home to get my phone. I left Danny there in case she showed up and by the time I called the school and got into the car I saw them walking up the street. Dang it all I missed the shot of her getting off the bus. Well, out of the car will have to do:

She said she had a good time and showed me what she brought home. She also said she needed a backpack so we went, later, and bought one.

She is in Kindergarten now and her life is going to be a lot different. She will be opened up to new friendships, a world of information, cruelty, knowledge and I pray she will be strong enough to take it all in and use it to find her own path. She is already an amazing little girl and today is her first step in many she will take toward her personal development. We will encourage her and support her, while trying not to shield her. We will ensure that she has it easier than we did, because that's what parents do.